Earcap



W. FIEDLER June 19, 1945.

Filed March 21, 1941V INVENTOR,

.Willi f 'c'dler ATTORNEY Patented June 19,1945 'y y,

EARCAP ofi-f; Willi-'riemen-erlin,eermanyassignor to" Herbert; Piening,"Nevin York, N; lY.

.,ApplicatimMart-h 2.1.1941, serial No. 384,570'y Germany. Mai'chfZI, 1940 Y round the root of the ear and thereby holds the ear-muli. However, the ear-muis provided with a band have the disadvantage that the band must pass under the hater the like of the wearer,

Whereas the ear-muffs without a band, which are f held by. springs worked into each of the two earmuffs, exert'an unpleasant pressure upon the root of the ear, if the spring is to 'give a secure hold. v a

Inorder toobviate thesedisadvantages, the ear-muff according to the present invention comprises a shell yadapted to be bent inwardly and consisting of thin vulcanized fibre, hard cardboard, articial resin, Celluloid, or the like, the shell having an opening for introducing the ear and being provided with a exible covering material, such as cloth, moss rubber (a kind of sponge rubber, but with iiner pores), or the like, loosely covering the opening of the ear-shell. This 'construction makes it lpossible to easily i- .lheknowntypes ofear .muffa 'tory-protecting'. ;..,rubber; onthe like. eAv cloth. 4...loosely. covers the y ,thaear .against coldare heldeonthehead either. an..adjustable,bandfextending overthe: head...

or by a spring worked .intoeaclr ofthe two earl A-Ix1uf.ts.lIn :the latter case, the spring presses..

.opening Lof.; the. shell.. L. 'I'he cloth: 4,.y covering the. openingpavs well-.asthe covering 3 of the shell .I i are=.bordered..by. 1an.. edge'. :braid: 5,1Which is L sewn ,ltogether( with lthe.. covering. 3,..as well as with the cloth 4.v But *it is alsoapossible to glue the covering 3, the -cloth 4, and the braid 5 together and onto the yshell I, and to provide a vbraid consisting of rubber instead of the edge braid 5, so thaty the rubber braid, when being stretched, will hold the cloth 4 and the covering 3. In addition, there may be attached to the entire inside surface a strip of sponge rubber, felt,

attach the ear-mufl tothe ear 'Without causing an unpleasant pressure onthe ear, they latter lying between the curved shell ofthe ear muff and the cloth covering.

The opening in the shell of the ear-muri` for introducing the ear is arranged eccentrically, and

the narrow strip of this shell, rformed by such opening and preferably constituting the shell portion designed to be placed over the root of the ear, is cut through. The severed ends of this narrow strip are connected by a rubber band, a spring, or the like. In this Way, the'material of i which the resilient shell is made is prevented from breaking, because the elastic connection permits the narrow strip to expand when the shell is bent.

, A constructional'example of the article forming the subject of the present invention is illus trated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an interior'view of the ear-mui;l Fig. 2 is a section on the line II-l-II of Fig. 1; and f Fig, 3is the same rsection in the position in which the ear isv introduced in the ear-muffs.

The ear-muil consists of a shell Z curved outwardly and made of thin vulcanized bre, `hard cardboard, artificial resin, Celluloid, or the like, the curvingof which may be bent inwardly, The shell Ihas an opening 2 and is covered on the side adjacent the head or on both k.sides with a suitable material 3, such as cloth, felt, moss friezed cloth, or' the like, assuring a close iit between the head andthe circumferential edge of the ear-Inuit. The kcovering 3 and the cloth 4 may` alsoconsist of moss rubber, the cut surfaces of which are turned towards the head, these surfaces being glued together at the circumferential edge by means of a rubber braid or being vulcanized together. ABy covering the shell I with moss rubber, a completely tight closure is obtained so that no moisture can reach the ear. In addition, moss rubber is a particularly good insulator for warmth.

Specically referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will f be seen that the shell I may assume, with respect to the cloth 4, either a position of substantially l .the arrow 1.

convex configuration or a position of substantially concave configuration. If the position of the shell is of substantially concave conguration then the iiexible material 4 will loosely cover the shell and will dene with the same a pocket. On the other hand, if the shell I is bent into a position of convex configuration, with respect to the iiexible rmaterial 4, the latter will be stretched over the shell.

When using the ear-Inuis in accordance with the invention, the shell I of suitable resilient material is bent 0r snapped into a position of concave coniiguration with respect to the flexible covering 4 as for instance shown in Fig. 3. The.`

ear is then inserted through aperture 2 into the pocket formedby the shell and the covering of flexible material. Pressure is then applied, as, for instance, with the lingers, and preferably at diametrically oplposed points in the direction of This pressure in the direction of the head will cause the -shell I to snap from the concave into the convex position shown in Fig. 2. In thisr latter position the flexible covering 4 being stretched-over the shell I defines with` the shell a clamp holding the ear therebetween. The pressure upon the ear, now clamped between the curved shell I and theA flexible covering 4, is

but relatively slight. The clamping action may be released at any time by bending or snapping the shell back into the concave position shown in Fig. 3.

As will be seen from the drawing, the .aperture 2 is eccentrically located thereby dening on the shell I, a narrow portion Ia and a crescentic portion Ib. The narrow Iportion Ia is cut through at 8, the severed ends being preferably held together by a piece of elastic material. The cloth 4 if desired may be an elastic cloth of for instance knitted material or the like. An edge braid 5 may be provided. The cut ends of the narrow strip Ia are then elastically connected by a rubber band. Owing to this construction, the shell I may be stamped out of a flat plate, the ends of the narrow strip being spaced from each other. By drawing together the ends of the strip and the rubber band 9, the curving of the shell I is obtained. The elastic connection by means of the rubber band 9 has the advantage that the material, of which the shell I is made, is prevented from breaking, when being bent, because the rubber band 9 will then expand, so that the shell I will jump from its curving on the right side into the therewith congruous curving on the left side.

What is claimed, is:

1. In an ear muff construction the improvement comprising a piece of resilient concaveconvex material returnably snappable to either of its congruous positions, a substantially flexible material attached to said piece and stretching in one of said positions over the convex surface thereof to form a snap action releasable ear clamp, and an ear admitting aperture in said P1666.

2. In an ear mu construction the improvement comprising a piece of resilient concave-convex material returnably snappable to either of its congruous positions, an eccentrically located ear admitting aperture in said rpiece defining thereon a narrow portion and a crescentic portion, and a substantially flexible material attached to said piece and stretching in one of said positions over the convex surface thereof to form with said crescentic portion a snap action releasable ear clamp.

3. The improvement in accordance with claim 2 in which said narrow portion is out through and in which the resulting `severed ends are held together by elastic means,

WILLI FIEDLER. 

